Lewisham has introduced bursaries worth a total of £7,500 for local organisations and professionals who want to promote diversity in the borough.

Applicants have up until April 9 to apply for one of the 10 bursaries, which are worth £750 each.

Lewisham has been given the title of London Borough of Culture for 2022, which is an award that aims to acknowledge the diversity of London.

The bursaries have been launched in an attempt to develop initiatives that foster an all-inclusive environment.

The council said in the IAmLewisham, the website promoting Lewisham as a Borough of Culture: “Lewisham Council recognises the powerful role that culture can play in promoting equality and celebrating diversity . . .

“With this in mind, we are piloting a new approach to supporting individual practitioners and small organisations to develop their ideas and seek funding to deliver cultural projects that promote equality and celebrate diversity.”

Connecting communities

Each applicant must submit an idea for a cultural project and will be selected on the basis of their project’s capacity to connect with Lewisham communities.

The council said: “This will be assessed both in terms of the quality of the idea and the potential scale of audience.”

Project proposals will also be considered on their ability to present real-life issues that Lewisham’s diverse communities are facing.

The bursary applicants may have the opportunity to receive support from other culture-based groups. The council said: “Where appropriate bursary recipients may be matched with an established community or cultural organisation to further support the development and delivery of the project.”

Despite the focus on developing projects which present diversity, Lewisham also aims to gain a more diverse range of candidates.

The council said: “Priority will be given to applicants who are currently under-represented in the cultural workforce, in particular black and minority ethnic, disabled and neurodiverse applicants.”

The application deadline is April 9 2021 and successful applicants will be informed by the end of May 2021.

If you want to apply for the bursary, please email: cultural.development@lewisham.gov.uk for an application form.